The Register’s Martin Wisckol wrote an article about GOP leaders facing challengers: County GOP backs embattled Mayor Tait [paywall.]
Diamond for D.A., Tait for Mayor. Those of us not imprisoned by a political party can follow our conscience. – EDITOR.
Wisckol touches on OJB blogger (and attorney to the better class of activists) Greg Diamond, and his impudent challenge to a certain District Attorney. As a GOP Central Committee alternate I believe I am not permitted to offer aid and comfort to the “enemy” against the party’s endorsed candidate, although the fact that the GOP failed to find anyone else to represent the party brings its own issues, but I will behave myself and refrain from personal comment. (It had to happen sooner or later.) However, I find it interesting that despite Dan C’s rabid partisan cheerleading of anyone, no matter how unqualified, who carries a D behind their name, Democrats (even Central Committee members) apparently have no such restrictions on their side of the fence. Hey come on over to the right anytime, kids, always happy to have you.
But the bulk of Martin’s article is rooted in the blood sport of Anaheim’s race for the Mayor’s seat, as useless as that seat may prove to be should the majority succeed in a ballot effort, forcing a run for the office every two years, and creating a perpetual candidate where a Mayor once stood. Conflict of interest, anyone? Do these people not understand that this means the Mayor will constantly be hitting up special interests for money? Or is that the beauty of the plan, should they put one of their own in the spot?
Martin reports that:
Tait got a major display of GOP support last month when the county Republican Party announced he was one of its two “Local Legislators of the Year.”
“Tom has overwhelming support inside the Republican Party of Orange County,” said county GOP Chairman Scott Baugh, noting that the selections were approved by the party’s executive committee.
“Tom and his family have been supporting the Orange County Republican Party for probably three decades, sharing their office space, doing precinct walks and helping financially.”
Despite upholding those principles of the GOP platform that fall within the authority of a local leader, and despite growing admiration from fellow citizens on all parts of the political spectrum, somehow Tom has failed to gain the support of his own City Council.
Back to the Register:
Among key issues where Tait has been at odds with his fellow City Council Republicans: He argued in vain that the beginning negotiating terms for the Angels’ new lease were too generous; he has favored pure district elections in order to ensure better geographic representation on the council; and he opposed a $158 million tax rebate to two new luxury hotels.
Wisckol then interviews OC’s leader of the Repulican party, Scott Baugh, telling us that:
The GOP council majority has also targeted Tait by reducing his mayoral staff and limiting his ability to put items on the agenda. And if the award appears to be a slap at Kring, Baugh didn’t seem to mind.
“Tom’s being challenged by a Republican who lied to the (county GOP’s governing) committee and lied to Tom Tait,” said Baugh.
Kring responded that the rebate deal had changed by the time her vote came up, and she was convinced it made sense. She said she never spoke to the county GOP on the tax-rebate issue, and she complained that the award for Tait had nothing to do with his position on issues.
Then Lucille, as only Lucille can, really stepped in it…
“That is a joke, the whole thing,” she said. “Why would four people – three being Republicans – vote against him on the council if he was doing the right thing?”
Lucille has obviously missed the memo that being in the majority does not always make you right. In fact I would point to the difference between being in the mainstream, and just being an angry mob worked into a frenzy until you are completely out of control, like bullies on a playground. Anyone who doubts what I am saying may be exposed to some video clips I need 
to line up, but there is a look of glee on the faces of the Council majority when poking at the Mayor – especially from Councilman Jordan Brandman – an air of something truly evil and sick.
The biggest sign that the majority knows somewhere in their deepest hearts that what they are doing is morally reprehensible is the simple fact that they lack any conviction for the task before them. That lack of conviction was on full display during the same GOP Central Committee meeting (January 2014) in which Baugh and other Central Committee members took Kring to task for challenging not only a Republican in good standing with the party, but a Republican “in VERY good standing” with Republicans.
As Council member Kris Murray took the stage in an Irvine hotel ballroom that evening, one would have expected her to blast Tait for what she somehow characterizes as un-conservative behavior. This is the woman who uses every excuse to tie Tait to the ACLU, liberals, Los Amigos, scary Hispanics, and others she paints as unsavory characters, who are all clearly in cahoots with the Mayor in some secret scheme to destroy Anaheim from within. (If that’s true, he would have to beat Murray’s plan to bankrupt it from within, so I guess the race is on, but let’s get back to the subject at hand.)
If Murray and Kring truly believed Mayor Tom Tait to be a phony conservative, wouldn’t the GOP Central Committee be the best place to find support in exposing this “RINO” for what he really is? Why, all they’d have to do is recount his outrageous voting records, and fellow conservatives – TRUE conservatives – would surely rush to their aid, offering them sanctuary and shelter from the hardship of dealing with Tait’s daily assaults against apple pie, Chevys, and puppy dogs.
Instead, Murray opened her remarks by immediately tying herself to Tait as a kindred spirit! Watch the painful video here. Don’t worry, you don’t have to watch for long before Murray shoves her high-heeled foot into her mouth.
Kris Murray steps to the podium:
“So before I get into the Angels, though, I just want to update you on, onhow the City’s doing, doing incredibly well, despite what you might read, in the papers, and the blogs, it’s the exception, not the rule, when we don’t agree.
“We as a Council, the Mayor and the Council, are governing in unison, when it comes to balancing our Budget, when it comes to restoring cash reserves, when it comes to implementing pension reform, there are a number of issues, that we are in total agreement on, in total alignment on, and it is in the best interests of our residents, and I’m very pleased to serve, and honored to serve, with the people who are elected to serve, in the City of Anaheim.”
Again, about 3 minutes into the video, Murray says;
“But the Council is absolutely unified, that any ultimate agreement must be in the best interests of Anaheim taxpayers.
“We are in the process of conducting an assessment, I backed the Mayor up when he asked for that in the Council meeting, multiple times, and we are hoping to hear back from our staff, that assessment is underway we are hoping to get that information back in mid to late February,”
NOTE: In reality the Council has consistently offered cover for staff, as staff fought the Mayor in his efforts for an appraisal of Stadium values. The fact that they even began negotiating for some of the most prime real estate in the nation with no baseline of value to work from marks them as poor stewards unworthy of holding office. Period. They need do nothing else this term to carry that moniker and still wear it proudly. Since the majority has already agreed in principle that $1 a year for up to 150 acres might be OK under certain conditions, the only scenario in which it is bad to release that data is if the land appraises at LESS than $1 a year. But I am off topic again. Sorry, I do that.
Murray is the recognized ringleader of Anaheim’s Kleptocracy, at least in the public eye. She is the first to tear the wings off Tom Tait’s butterfly costume for the school play, and is positively brazen in her hatred of him during Council meetings and even press interviews.
But put the bully into a room where she could get some back-up, and instead she backs down. Why would she do that if she finally, after all this time, had an audience of what should be sympathetic listeners, rather than the misinformed, politically motivated vocal minority that the “Murrbots” claim Tom Tait clearly controls and operates by remote control during Council meetings? It seems when pressed in a forum where she actually has to answer to those in a position for give and take, rather than using her Council Communications privilege to rebut public comments with her error-packed propaganda (knowing the public has no opportunity to rebut true facts back to her) … well, suddenly her courage evaporates. So how solid is her belief, really, that she is doing the right thing in opposing Tait on every possible front, if she’s unable to defend her actions to others who SHOULD be of like mind, such as the GOP Central Committee? Yes, Murray chickened out.
Returning to mayoral candidate Lucille Kring’s comment to the Register:
“Why would four people – three being Republicans – vote against him on the council if he was doing the right thing?”
Uh… I dunno Lucille, do you think MONEY, power, influence, and the fear of being forced to turn in your secret decoder ring signifying membership in the Masters of the Universe Club might be motive enough to oppose a man doing the right thing?
Photo credit: Cynthia Ward. Depicted: Lucille Kring at her announcement for Mayor (3rd time) with Angels’ Dennis Kuhl. Note the sign in background for Angels Merchandise for sale.
I don’t live inside Lucille Kring’s head, and I’m ever so truly grateful for that, as it seems a very cold, dark, and lonely place. So I can’t speak to her motive with certainty. But in general we have a name for when a politician changes a publicly declared standard right after those involved give money to said politician, and it isn’t a name we affix to a lady of any repute.
What do you think, Lucille? This is your third run at the Mayor’s seat, is it maybe time you stop wasting the family trust fund, and pack it in before you find yourself in genuine trouble? There’s a line between self-serving and self-dealing, and many Anaheim residents think Lucille and her Council majority compatriots holding the City Treasury hostage votes have stepped over that line. Should Lucille wish to see how many do object to her behavior, indicating her the-grass-is-greener-where-it-is-covered-in-special interest-money-attitude, she need only wait for Election Day to hear from them. This assumes her compatriots have not forced a slanted deal on the Angels before November, and are not recalled wholesale.
Good job, Mr. Wisckol! If Team Tait is sharp, they will grab that lift quote from Lucille for a mail piece. His campaign couldn’t pay for material this good, and Lucille just continually offers it up, free of charge.
Bold Lyin’ with Bold Kleptocrats.
Upon reading the article, I jumped around the room in excitement for a solid half-hour. Surpassing my expectations, their Götterdämmerung is fast approaching. In my defense, who could have imagined that Kring would say such a thing….
Daniel, my friend, we need to get you out of the house more often, but thanks. Yes it can be fun to take a swipe at someone whose arrogance needs to come down a few notches, but the reality is that whether we stop them or not, damage is being done to Anaheim, how do we celebrate that. If we say nothing, they run wild with Mom and Dad’s credit card. Speak up in an effort to stop them, and the world turns to Anaheim and asks, “what the Hell is wrong with these people and this town?” That is not the international image I want to present to the world, and I can only hope we can stop this and get back to the business of making Anaheim the awesome place it SHOULD be.
Name other resort towns that come to mind, places based on tourism, and what do you see? Well kept, an emphasis on cleanliness and maintenance, making visitors feel safe, encouraging an environment where people can relax, and in turn open their wallets. Is that what Anaheim is? Why not? Why, with all the “economic engine” going on here, sections of our beloved town look like a third world war zone, while our City Council berates us for objecting to yet another giveaway scheme that diverts resources from the desperate needs of the taxpayers who are told for decades to “invest” in our community and then have the dividends of that investment yanked out from under us when the payoff comes due.
Crony capitalism, Kleptocracy, whatever you want to call it, it is wrong, and it is anything but Conservative.
It is hard to assess how basic one must get in one’s explanation if one needs to explain to someone that being in the minority on a vote is does not somehow prove that one is wrong. Political science? Sociology? Philosophy?
Math?
More succinct – Biology (Lemmings).
Strike One: “It wasn’t in my campaign literature.”
Strike Two: “Why would four people – three being Republicans – vote against him on the council if he was doing the right thing?”
You really can’t make this stuff up. Any guesses on strike three?
“It wasn’t my vote, it was the one armed man!”
Oh Ryan, as one of the smarter gentlemen of my acquaintance I assumed you knew strike three already. It is certain to be some derivative of, “But staff said the MOUs didn’t mean anything, what do you mean Arte’s lawyer is out front?!”
Ah, yes. The MOU not being a contract even though the city attorney has put in writing that it is. Thanks for that.
*The GOP has been playing with our girl Lucille for some time. First they wanted her to run for Assembly when she could have easily won the race for Mayor. The fix was in and Tait was the annoited one. Which actually worked out pretty well, when thing got sticky, Tait stepped up to the plate and actually looked statesmanlike in the middle of the fray. However, that is not to say that Lucille couldn’t have done a superb job as well. We fully support Lucille in this cycle for Mayor. She will be Fair and Balanced Mayor. She will be a wonderful representative for Anaheim and for new business there. She believes in taking care of the homeless folks and will be a good supporter for Public Safety. What more do you want? Egg in your beer?
I want someone who doesn’t lie to secure endorsements and votes, someone who doesn’t dole out corporate welfare like candy on Halloween, and someone who owns accountability for the choices– good and bad– she makes instead of saying something unbelievably stupid like: “It wasn’t in my campaign literature.”
I don’t think that’s too much to ask.
But a beer would be nice. Thanks ‘Ships.
What more do you want?
1. Intelligence
2. Honesty
3. Integrity
4. Conservative principles
She lied to me personally. I don’t care for that.
She lied to my face, and let me buy her lunch while doing it. Lied to the Mayor, lied to all of us to get our support. Then when she was elected, those who had fought against her with nasty mail pieces suddenly LOVED Lucille, started paying down her campaign debt, and suddenly the promises made to us evaporated, as she started approving things that only months earlier she was opposed to.
There is not an ounce of integrity in the woman, but you are welcome to support her. She will need every friend she can get when this is over. Go look at previous filings for her campaigns, see who used to have her back, now look at her current filings, a lot of old time friends have dropped Lucille, while those who have hate her for years are suddenly writing checks. Does this not raise alarm bells?
But even if you don’t believe she is in the bag, the statements she makes from the dais are so dense that I just do the hand-to-the-forehead thing, astonished that she ever passed the bar.
Anaheim is at a critical place right now, we have all kinds of projects well into the seven and eight figure range, projects with the potential to make or break Anaheim’s budget for the next generation. We cannot afford the kind of crony capitalism that Lucille and her new best friends represent, which is PART of the reason why GOP was so nasty to her. She makes Republicans look bad.
The other reason is “behavior unbecoming a gentle(woman).” It is one thing to disagree with each other on policy issues when in elected offices, plenty of reasonable people do. It is another thing to use your position in elected office to personally retaliate against someone simply for disagreeing with you. And it is the ugliest slap of the face imaginable for an elected leader to retaliate against someone for a sin no greater than disagreeing, with retaliation that impacts the ability to serve the needs of our community. The message sent is that her personal vendetta takes precedence over serving the public, and THAT is unacceptable.
Ron and Anna, I don’t know what part of Anaheim you live in, perhaps things in your neck of the woods look different. I am from the flatlands, I don’t personally know a single soul who will vote for Lucille, ever again, for any office at this point. And I would say the vast majority of people I know would gladly sign a recall petition. I will admit the same group of my friends lack the funds to pull off a recall, but the fact is, they would jump on the chance if funding was there. She is not nice, she is not smart, and she is not honest. Sorry we cannot agree on this.
Try as I might, I don’t catch EVERYTHING going on in Anaheim, but (per the masthead bio link), Corona del Mar must be an annexation (or new ‘Hills subdivision?) Somebody help me out here.
It appears you are correct (as always) Big Box, thanks. As American citizens the Winships are welcome to “support” Lucille in any manner they please,other than to vote for her. That’s fair. Send her a check, it is what she values most in life these days, that is hard for me to say, but given her flip-flops and power plays, I have to ask how many reasonable people would say otherwise. We shall agree to disagree, hopefully with some mutual respect, and it will all come out in the wash on Election Day.
*Cynthia, sadly….only lived in Anaheim once….back in 1960 when I moved out of the parents house and lived with some Midnight Auto Supply guys, who stole my Suit pants……and most of my records. No, don’t live in Anaheim, did live in Fullerton for about 5 and half years. Still trying to recover from that experience. As you can see….things have changed greatly since 1954 to 1960. We had 35K souls in Fullerton in those days. Anaheim had something like 65K, if memory serves. OK, your many points on “whose who in zoo” are well taken. We are more inclined to “name names”. Lucille may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but we know her well enough to know – she will do right “when she can”. That is getting harder to find in electeds …..all the time. Anaheim is a pretty complex venue. Representing “All the people” may be one of the bigger challenges. Far bigger than in Fullerton….we might say! Fullerton is into this “self destruct – self hating mode”. Anaheim is more of a “Big Little City” like Reno for example. The great diversity within the society is a toughie. If you are Hispanic or Asian…..who would YOU vote for? If you are on the Republican payroll…….Who would YOU vote for? If you are a Progressive Democrat…Who would YOU vote for? Lucille is the classic “Middle of the Road Republican” that will do a great job for the entire city. She may be willing to stand up to Arte Moreno……she may be willing to work comprehensively with Anaheim PD and FD…. Lucille does understand quality……something that folks like Ron Calderon and his brother……probably never rec’d training on. But that is off the subject. There are lots of folks out there that are elected which we have various diagreements with. We could start with our old pal Darrell Issa…and move all around the board. Right now, the Progressive Democrats that support Downtown Jerry Brown – seem to be more “Our cup of tea……..” No pun intended..of course! That doesn’t mean however that we have to remain monolithic about anything…when it comes to politics. Some electeds are good, some electeds are good liars, some electeds are outright liars and most politicians never know when to shut up and just do the right thing. Hey, let’s take Water Rates for example. What about So.Cal Edision Rates? Funny how we never seem to hear about the later…….by anyone. How about Tattoo Parlors and Junk Food Restaurants? Same thing…..nothing about the later much…eh? No, we grasp the issues ….but we still support “The Lucille”!
*you haven’t met the Winships Cynthia? They are….. grandfathered…… “here!”
“She may be willing to stand up to Arte Moreno . . .”
Somebody get a Winship some coffee! Clearly asleep at the wheel . . .
she will do right “when she can”.
So she won’t when she can’t. That’s just sad.
“She may be willing to stand up to Arte Moreno…”
Well she might also sprout wings and fly away. So far she has given Moreno everything he wants – and then some – and the hell with the best interest of the City. That’s not fair or balanced. That’s kleptocratic.
*We can only respond that we would never consider going out for coffee with Arte Moreno….but we would with Lucille. She has quality character in spite of your assertions………
Yes, I see. But what kind of quality?
If by “quality character” you mean duplicitous and self-serving, then I am inclined to agree.
Actually, I would much rather have coffee with Arte Moreno. I actually sat at a table next to Kring at Tacos Adobe in Orange in the fall 0f 2012. All she could do was moan about the rough time Pringle & Co. had given her.
With Moreno, at least I could ask him face-to-face whether or not he already has a side deal with Pringle for development of all that free land. Of course you probably like really like Pringle, too. More quality.